Monthly Archives: March 2011

In Wales, a deaf man went to a movie house to watch
a film that was advertised as subtitled. The movie
did not show subtitles. It was the fourth time it
happened in one year. Upset, he asked the manager
to turn on the captions. The manager refused despite
being shown the newspaper ad, but refunded him. He
then complained to the movie chain headquarters, the
nation’s Equality and Human Rights Commission and
the local newspaper. The chain apologized and gave
him free tickets for future movies. Why no subtitles?
The chain said it was a technical difficulty.

– Four deaf fans of British soccer cheated out of tickets
for a big game

British soccer is big time; same as NFL in USA. Anyway
four deaf fans of the Birmingham City soccer team
waited ten hours in a long line to buy tickets for a
big game; they had their confirmation numbers
with them. But when they reached the window, the
ticket seller told them their numbers were no good
because someone else already used it and they could
not buy tickets. Very angry, they filed a legal case
with the soccer club, claiming it was discrimination
to use the public announcement system to shout the
confirmatiion numbers that they would miss. The
club agreed with them and gave them replacement
tickets!

– 12 years with interpreter

Josh Brewer, an interpreter in a mainstreamed school
system in Alabama, worked with deaf student Zach
Kerger for 12 years! Josh was 20 when a 6-year old
Zach was assigned to him. They have been together
for 12 years; Josh is now 32 years old where as
Zach, now a senior, is 18 years old. When Zach
graduates this spring, Josh will be given a new
interpreting assignment. Another 12 years??????

– The thick red curly hair of a famous actress

In Great Britain, Rula Lenska is a well known actress
on stage and on TV drama programs. She is famous for
her beautiful, thick, flaming red curly hair. Rula had
a reason for keeping this same look with her hair for
many years . She became deaf as a younger woman, and
these curls easily hid her hearing aids! No one watching
her would know she was deaf. Only this week Rula gave
an interview, confessing her reason for the same looks.

– A young deaf man with dreams of coaching career in NFL

Nouri Marrakchi, a deaf student at University of
Northern Colorado, has a big dream – to become a coach
in the National Football League. He has already made
some contacts with key people in the NFL and is hoping
some of them will open the door to him after he
graduates from college. He may look at Michael Fischer
as a role model. Michael, a former Gallaudet student,
served as coaching assistant/video analyst with
Houston Comets, a past team in the WNBA before moving
on to University of Minnesota women’s basketball team
as assistant to head coach Pam Borton.

There are some fast food drive-in that are accessible
to the deaf. But the best one is Culver’s in Portage,
Wisconsin. It is fully accessible as compared to others
that are of limited accessibility. As a result, a good
number of deaf patrons have picked up their orders
at this Portage outlet. Other fast food places won’t
use this accessibility system because of costs involved.
This is why we appreciate the willingness of this Portage
outlet reaching out to the deaf.

– Inside Gallaudet’s House One

Gallaudet’s House One, is like the White House. It is the
residence of Gallaudet presidents and their families.

What does it look like?

It has 35 rooms.

First floor is a musuem

Second floor is President Hurwitz’s office and also 2
guest rooms

Third floor has two other guest rooms, a family room;
First Lady Hurwitz’s office and a second kitchen

Basement is for storage

A DVD will be distributed next year to show history
of House One

– Do you want to learn how to surf the waves?

Deaf people, of all ages, that want to learn how to
surf, will have a chance on May 21st at Hanna Park
in Jacksonville, Florida. This is when sign language
instructors from the Florida Surfing Association
will teach the deaf how to surf. Amanda, one of the
instructors, is a NTID graduate.

– Hearing invisible voices for deaf actors in movies?

Deaf actors cannot play hearing speaking roles in movies.
Could that change in future hearing movies? Well, if you
watched the movie “Mars Needs Moms” you may not realize
that a voice of a 37-year old actor was switched with
a voice of a 9-year old kid. This is a trick filmmakers
play with computers. Who knows – some day a skilled deaf
actor could “speak” on the film with a switched hearing
voice! This will give employment to deaf actors.

– A person cannot use deafness as an excuse to avoid jail

Marcus Wilson, a deaf burglar from England, told the
judge, during court hearing that he should not go to prison
because of his deafness. Judge Michael Stokes said no,
telling him deafness is no excuse for breaking the law
and sentenced him to 1 1/2 years in jail. He was arrested
for breaking into many homes and stealing electronic
gear and jewelry.

Matt Hamill will fight Quinton “Rampage” Jackson on May 28th.
Jackson is a Top 10 fighter. It will be an important match
for him.

Matt was supposed to fight another opponent that he didn’t want
to face because it would be an easy win with no real challenge.
When he learned that Jackson needed an opponent, he seized on
the opportunity. If Matt wins, he will reach the Top 10 ranks.

– Fired for calling Marlee Matlin an ugly woman!

Mike Sorrentino, a comedian with the “Jersey Shore” MTV reality
TV series, made fun of some famous people, and said that
Marlee Matlin was ugly.

As a result, he was pushed off the stage by the Jersey Shore
producer and then later fired from this cast!

It may be painful for him because last year he earned over
10 million dollars for performing on Jersey Shore!

– A shocking fact about past president Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt was one of the most famous past USA Presidents.
He served in 1901-1909. What was a shocking fact about him that
many of us, the deaf, were never aware of? He supported Eugenics,
which means sterilizing the deaf, in addition to other disabilities.
He did not want the deaf to have children. He was probably a
hypocrite because he was supportive of the deaf to rights of
employment in the Civil Service!

– A deaf girl with a big memory

Sophia Hu, who is deaf, is a member of the Hershey HS (Pennsylvania)
Memory Team. Her team took part at the USA Memory Championship
that took place last week. What are these memory events?
These are Names and Faces, Speed Numbers, Speed Cards and
Poetry.

– Nurse fired for placing hand on mouth of deaf patient

Shabana Tabassum is a nurse at a hospital in England. She
was responsible for a deaf patient. This deaf patient started
screaming; upset, the nurse went over to him to place her hand
on his mouth to stop his screaming. She was fired. But she
filed a lawsuit to get her job back and the nursing board
agreed with her. Yet, she is working at another hospital.